Another Linux-based open source OS will run on all of Nokia's flagship phones

In what appears to be somewhat of a turnaround for Nokia, the world's No. 1 mobile phone manufacturer announced that it is scrapping its ubiquitous Symbian OS on all future N-series models. Instead, its flagship phones will run MeeGo, a combination of two Linux-based platforms: Nokia's Maemo and Intel's Moblin.

"The confirmation that MeeGo will be used for the next flagship N-series device shows Nokia is betting the ranch on this platform to beat high-end rivals such as Apple's iPhone," a researcher at British consultancy CCS Insight told Reuters.

The spiking of Symbian looks like an admission from Nokia of the operating system's failure to compete against the increasingly popular Android OS and Apple's iOS, which are both geared towards customization and additional applications for a user experience more akin to a personal computer. Symbian, on the other hand, was first-and-foremost a mobile phone OS. Like Android and Palm's webOS, MeeGo follows the growing trend of Linux-based smartphone software.

Announced by Intel and Nokia in February, MeeGo is set to power a number of consumer electronics, from netbooks and tablets, to smartphones and connected TVs. An early version of MeeGo for Netbooks was released last month. Here's the list of the features that it includes, from the MeeGo website:

The MeeGo Netbook User Experience includes:

Visually rich Netbook user experience, building on the latest open source technologies.

Instant access to your synchronized calendar, tasks, appointments, recently used files and real-time social networking updates through the home screen.

Aggregation of your social networking content. This allows you to see your social networking activities on one screen, easily interact with your friends, and update your status and site information.

For a fast and rich Internet experience the MeeGo Netbook user experience integrates Google Chrome or, if you prefer a fully open source browser solution, Google Chromium is also provided. Soon we will be releasing the MeeGo Handset user experience which will use the Fennec Mozilla Browser.

Early reviews of the OS, like this one from ExtremeTech, have noted its ease-of-use as well as its kid-friendly design. "MeeGo v1.0 for Netbooks shows the potential is there to make anything into whimsical, colorful, and nonthreatening entry point to the Internet," ExtremeTech concludes.

A pre-Alpha version of the MeeGo's mobile version is set to release June 30, with October as the target date for a full release.

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